Upward and Onward, Matthew!

Matthew had his first basketball game this last weekend.

(Doesn't he look cute in his uniform?)

WOW! What fun it was to see him playing with his teammates and doing so very well! I think he's starting to get the hang of the game (and the rules, too!). They play man-on-man defense, so each kid wears a wristband and has to stick pretty close to their matching wristband guy on the other team. It was funny to hear the coaches hollering "where's your man? Find your guy!" and then almost EVERY kid on the court would stop in his tracks, check his wristband and adjust accordingly. Hee hee hee! This league is super positive and encouraging, centered around building the kids up in their faith and their skills. The game started with each team being introduced individually and running onto the court through a sparkly banner. Prayers for good sportsmanship were offered up and the game commenced. Halftime included a brief devotion time. After the game was over, each team was dismissed to their team room for a post-game praise prayer and mini-award ceremony. Matthew was selected as Best Offensive Player in the game this week--little booger scored 12 points!! YAY!! Way to go, Matthew!!!!

(Yes, that's him under the basket. And, no, he's NOT standing on a box in this picture...he's just super tall for a 7 year old...his team-mates and opponents are all his age!)

I'm so proud of our big guy!

Go #31!!

Go Rattlers!!

Hangin' with the Abb-ster

Miss Abbey has become quite the little hambone. Can't seem to get the camera out without her mugging for a close-up. Check out the little beastie...

(Added benefit to this picture is that Miss Katie is caught on film doing I'm not sure WHAT with her face...)

Fortune Cookie Never Wrong?

Isn't there a song that goes like that?

Had Chinese food for lunch the other day...my fortune read: "You have a lively family."

Ummm, that's one way to put it!

Katie's Take on The Big Dance

Alright, where to begin? The "Winter Ball" was, to put it simply.... awesome! The music was just great and dancing like mad fools was very entertaining. Dwayne was a great DJ, just the right mix of rock and classical. (And adding "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" was certainly a nice touch. haha.) Although the night was amazing, I think that my favorite part was dancing around with some of my best friends on the front porch. Though being outside was away from the actual dance, it gave us some more space and freedom for our "dancing", if you could call it that. lol. The one thing that still to this very moment puzzles me is, how on earth I could have possibly managed to fall off the porch and into a bush when I was just standing there, talking! (I guess, to my dismay, there is a bit of my mother in me afterall.) The lovely bruise on my leg still taunts me. *sigh*. I suppose the irony of being all prettied up and dressy, and then head banging with Christiana was pretty sweet too. Well I think I have just about said it all except this...SUPER-AMAZINGLY-FANTASTICLY FUN! =) (Doesn't everyone just look GORGEOUS?)

Catching up..New Year's Day 2008

Yes, I KNOW that January is almost over...but I'm still in catch-up mode, so bear with me!

We started our 2008 in true Zoo Crew style…with a road trip! We headed out to DC this time, planning to check out a monument or two and just enjoy the beautiful day. Found out that Bill’s new “Personal Navigation Assistant” doesn’t know which streets are one-way!!

It was picture-postcard PERFECT outside, though a wee bit chilly when the wind blew through. First stop--the Washington Monument. As Patrick and I worked our way up the walk (couldn’t find the handicapped parking, so we hoofed it!), Matthew & Ben ran up ahead with Daddy. At the base of the monument, the elevator vents out HUGE blasts of warm air, which drew Ben’s attention, thanks to billowing clouds of steam. That blast, when combined with a nice gust of wind, had Ben airborne for a brief second. Little guy didn’t know what hit him! Patrick and Abbey helped me take pics of the monument and the White House. (Got to try out my telephoto lens…VERY COOL!).

Rosy cheeked and heading back to the car, Matthew said “It’s going to be a GREAT 2008, Mom, because we are starting it with the best day EVER!” At which point, Ben & Abbey chimed in, singing, “It’s the best day EV-errrrr! It’s the best day EV-errrr!” Pretty soon we were all singing…even Patrick! (Okay, so Katie refused to sing, but hey, her pre-teen angst thing was going pretty strong that day!)

The only way to top that was to find a bathroom. A clean one. Spotted the Botanical Gardens with “ample handicapped parking” and figured it was worth a shot. BONUS—very cool model train display running around outside the gardens. Had a marvelous time watching the trains, trying to predict which would be the first to traverse the bridge spans. Wandered through the gardens, checking out the various flora (alas, no fauna but we did spot a few faux dinosaurs!), found a potty and wandered our way back out to the REAL attraction…the trains! The Capitol is just steps away from the Gardens, so I snapped off a few shots of that, too...

More singing of our improvised trip theme song, the requisite stop at Sheetz for potty and beverages, and we were home again. Truly a fun-filled family day…and nice moments to freeze in time!